


Overstimulation

by Ononymous



Series: Undertale Anniversary Requests 2018 [7]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Excel Saga References, Gen, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-26
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-08-07 23:08:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16417784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ononymous/pseuds/Ononymous
Summary: Those silly cartoons never made much sense to Toriel, but then a whim of fate has her watching an entire series. Oh dear. Ah well, it probably won't be that bad.Nah, definitely won't be bad.Hey, this isn't bad.Uh oh...





	Overstimulation

**Author's Note:**

> This combines two suggestions:"Toriel finding out about Gangnam Style to the horror of the other Undertales", and "The nerds trying to get Toriel into anime. It doesn't gel with her with all its craziness and occasional lewdness until the end when sentimental moments start getting to her."

The coffee table protested mutely at the provisions it was expected to keep within easy grabbing distance from the sofa. Its owners were not paying attention, fiddling with other indentured servants in preparation for their party, servants rendered bound to obey their wishes just because they were non-sapient and were incapable of not liking what their masters bade them do. The happy slave commanded the television to raise its volume as a yellow claw gently pressed its button. The owner of that claw had a whole set of blue ones resting on her shoulder.

"All set, Alphys?"

"Yup! Stream is fully b-buffered, snack stockpile in a r-ratio of four healthy to one unh-h-healthy. Now we just need our g-guests."

"Where the hell are they? Pap said he just needed to wake Sans- ohhhhhhhh." Undyne slapped her forehead with an open palm. "That explains it. Honestly, you'd think a good's night sleep is too tiring for him with all those naps."

_Ding dong!_

"Ugh, finally!" She marched over to the front door, opened it, seized the petitioner and closed the door behind them, slamming a red button next to the lock. "Took ya long enough, Papyrus! Are you and your bro ready for this... marathon...?"

Undyne was looking into the blank eyesockets of her guest. Only they weren't blank. Or sockets. The expected empty blackness was instead a vibrant copper-red, positioned several inches higher than she expected. They were also widened in shock.

"Oh. Uh, hi Toriel."

"Oh, hello." There was danger in such a calm tone. "I was just calling round to ask if I could borrow some eggs, I wanted to bake something for when Asgore and the children return from the latest summit. If you are busy, I can leave and buy some."

"Yyyyeahhhhh, that's gonna be a problem..."

"Why?" Toriel looked at the locking mechanism, currently displaying 23:59:38 and counting down. "What is that device counting down to?"

"...to when we can leave."

"To when- What?!" A dry heat began to irritate Undyne's scales. "Why would you lock yourselves inside for a day? It is a beautiful day outside!"

A terrified squeak was the only explanation Alphys, unable to not overhear the argument, offered. Undyne descended into the underworld, her fear playing with a bouncy ball in its oubliette.

"Ya see, Sans and Papyrus were supposed to come round for a marathon binge session. It was a reward for Alph completing Couch-to-5K. We had a couple of drinks last night, and I thought it would be hardcore if we had to stay the whole time, no breaks. And Alph, well, she took me up on it, and wired that contraption to the door. I was meant to activate it when they arrived, and... well, mistaken identify I guess."

Toriel was not amused. "You mean... we are sealed in this house for a day?"

"'s about the long and short of it. Huh. You don't seem that mad."

"Oh, I am not." A flame appeared in her hand, throwing her reserved smile into sharp relief. "I have a solution."

"No, wait!" Undyne forced Toriel's hand closed, smothering the flame. "I've got a _better_ idea."

"...Tunnelling?" The hope was misplaced.

"Nah. Girl's day in! You can watch with us!"

"Those... cartoons?" Her nostrils wrinkled in doubt. "I do not believe they would be to my taste."

"Just give them a chance!" Undyne and Toriel turned to Alphys. "I know some people l-look down on them, but they're a window t-to exploring the human condition if you give them a chance!"

"Alph, Babe, we're not human."

"Oh. Um, sorry. F-figure of speech."

"But," said Toriel, "I had other errands to attend to, even if I were interested, I- what are you doing with my phone?!"

"NGAH!" Beep. "Done. Papyrus now has a list of your errands and thinks you've asked him to do them. Shame to cut him out of the loop like that, but when life gives you lemons, eat them raw to spite life!"

Despite the affront to her wishes, an ancient instinct for showing manners even in adversity was shaking cobwebs from its head, and thus from Toriel's. "Very well. I suppose a change is as good as-" the world became a blur, and Toriel found herself deposited on a sofa. "-a rest."

"Okay, T-Toriel. Now his sh-show is about a young girl t-trying to prove herself to the l-leader of a secret society bent on ch-changing the world, one city at a time."

Alphys unpaused the stream. It didn't take long for the questions to start.

"My goodness! Why did she harm that man?!"

"It was a mistake. I guess we're all allowed our screwups. Look, the universe fixed it for her!"

"What a reckless way to live life. There are no resets in reality."

At the shop, as Papyrus went through the soup aisle to pick up some socks, Sans suddenly gave a bitter laugh.

"I do not think her colleague is physically well enough to further the goals of this society. She should consult a doctor."

"It's d-deep symbolism," said Alphys, "for s-society's devaluation of individuality and demanding c-commitment to our jobs, even at the cost of our h-health."

"But she could at least wear a scarf. All that exposed skin cannot be healthy."

The colleague chose that moment to prove her point by coughing up blood. In spite of this, it was a few episodes before the show confirmed it didn't care for Toriel's views.

"It's a waterpark, Toriel, what else are they gonna wear?!"

"More than that! And why must all their conflicts be resolved with punching?"

There were some parts that Toriel watched without complaint. Other characters and their machinations being gradually spooled out in the background of all the hijinks actually held her interest, but it was hard to appreciate those machinations because said hijinks took up all the air in the room.

Until suddenly it didn't. Everything changed.

"Oh my... the entire city... why would everything change so drastically?"

"It-it's common in anime. The mangaka- um, I m-mean artist- gets bored with the status q-quo and shakes everything up."

"But the society has ostensibly achieved its dreams of conquest. Why has she been cut out of the loop?"

"That's what we have to watch to find out!"

And then everything changed. Again.

"He... he shot her... I do not understand..."

"N-Neither does she."

She really didn't. The slapstick and hijinx were gone. All that was left was someone grappling with deepest betrayal. She had served that man loyally, worked to further his goals, to a point where she thought she understood him. That understanding taken from her in a flash...

Toriel could sympathise.

"Oh, her former enemies have taken her in. That is wonderful."

"Guess they got bigger mes to fry!"

They did. A titanic clash of fantastical arms now broke out. And other characters engaged in the kinds of magical battles Toriel had long thought lost to humanity. But she had eyes only for the final conflict.

"Please confront him!" she begged, "Do not abandon the situation, hold him to account!"

And she did. And everything changed a final time.

"Uh, I'm confused," said Undyne.

"It's obvious!" lied Alphys, not knowing she was lying. "The p-pressures he was u-under manifested as a s-secondary personality, willing to c-cast aside all he c-cared for in the p-pursuit of his g-goals, even if it t-tormented the good side of him! He was t-trapped by what he wanted and what he th-thought he needed to do! And sh-she helped him see that!"

To everyone's surprise, Toriel let out a sob.

"I d-didn't think it was _that_ beautiful, T-Toriel."

"It was not the beauty, it was..." words failed her. "I am amazed at how well they captured it."

"Captured what?"

Toriel didn't answer. "I was wrong. There is merit in reaching beyond your comfort zone. I should do this more often. Is there anything else in this genre you would recommend?"

"Oh w-well there's-"

"Take it from me Tor, we'll be here another day if Alph gives off her whole list. Just look it up online, you'll find something!"

"If you think I should..."

"Course ya should!" A loud clunk came from the hall. "Welp, sounds like the door's open! You can go home if you want."

"Very well. Thank you both for the... engaging experience."

"Any time!" They watched her leave.

"Undyne, are you s-sure you should have thrown her in the d-deep end like that?"

"Why not? What's the worst that can happen?"

* * *

_Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt._

With a yawn, Alphys grabbed her phone from the cabinet. "H-hello?"

"What did you do to my mom?!"

"Your mo- Oh, Prince Asriel! Wh-wh-what's the matter?"

"Frisk and I got up for breakfast, and we found Mom in the living room, pretending to ride a horse in one spot, and singing about sexy ladies! What's going on?!"

 _Oh no._ "T-t-t-try and keep her from leaving the house, I'll be over r-right away!" She hung up, then seized the buzzsaw emitting figure slumped next to her and began to shake it. "Unnie! Undyne!"

A yellow eye appeared. "wuh-?"

"The Q-Queen's in trouble!"

"How?"

Twenty minutes later they had their answer. Entering Toriel's house they caught a glimpse of Frisk in the kitchen trying to cook something to eat, and then in the living room they found Asriel staring bewildered at his mother, who continued the bizarre dance he had described.

"' _Op. Op. Op. Op. Open Ganging Style!_ ' Oh, hello Doctor. What is up? And Undyne! How does it do?"

"J-just as I feared," whispered Alphys, "Psyonic backlash."

"Asriel told me he called you, but there is nothing to fear. I have just been following Undyne's advice, and after watching a few other shows, I discovered other interesting things. There are so many funny jokes on the internet. And the humans are wonderful at twisting them in new permutations. But there is one I have trouble with. Do you really think people would do that? Just go on the internet and tell lies about cake?"

"It's w-worse than I thought..." Alphys dramatically removed her glasses. "The m-memes..."

"What do we do?!" yelled Asriel.

"Detox. Cold turkey. Undyne, get Frisk to p-put on coffee. Asriel, p-p-put on a playlist of lo-fi hip hop study beats music. We m-may be here a while."

They were there for a while. Officially it was five minutes, but it felt a lot longer. Alphys explained that was a side effect.

**Author's Note:**

> Pastebin Version: https://pastebin.com/8VM74iC8
> 
> Let me know what you think, and thanks for reading!


End file.
